Sandy Cay is Philippine territory; it lies well within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.
Therefore, international law and the 2016 arbitral ruling forbid China from entering Sandy.
Sandy Cay is a small coral reef in the northern Thitu Reefs of the Spratly Islands, South China Sea. It consists of multiple shallow reef platforms with dynamic sandbanks.
In 2017, the Philippines planned to build shelters for fishermen in the maritime feature. This plan was halted after China opposed the plan in August. Filipino Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano informed President Rodrigo Duterte that such action would violate the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea. Duterte said he received assurance from China that it would not occupy the reef.[3][4] Since then, the feature has remained unoccupied by any claimant country, but Chinese maritime vessels have loitered around its vicinity.]
In mid-April 2025, the China Coast Guard conducted a landing on the reef to “exercise sovereign jurisdiction,” raising a Chinese flag on the sandbank and was reported as a seizure of the maritime feature.
